“One of the biggest surprises to emerge when the human genome was first sequenced more than 20 years ago was how few genes it contained, less than one-third the number some scientists had predicted. Fewer than 30,000 genes and the proteins they encode are enough to build and operate the human body, it seemed; recent tallies have moved even lower, to about 20,000. But a new systematic analysis of what some call the ‘dark proteome’ suggests scientists have missed thousands of nontraditional genes that lurk in previously overlooked stretches of the genome and make smaller than average proteins.

The newly described genes and their products could upend aspects of human biology and accelerate medical discoveries. For example, one newfound gene makes a miniature protein that appears key to a childhood cancer.”

From Science.